Meghan Goes to China: 100 Floors Up to the Top of the World's Largest Beer Bottle Opener

Today was a really fun day. We were paired up and led around the city by a high school student from Shanghai. Caitlin and I lucked out with our host, Elene, a smiling, city-smart, outgoing kid. She actually just spent last year doing an exchange program in Atlanta, Georgia, and next year is going to 11th grade in Nashville. Caitlin went to Vanderbilt, so it was great to make an immediate connection with Elene.

Anyway, of course the first thing we wanted to do was go to the top of one of the big buildings. Right now, for a few more months, the Giant Beer Bottle Opener, known by people who are not me as, the Shanghai World Financial Center, is the tallest building in China. Next door to GBBO is another building that will soon surpass it. It's the building that has all the cranes on the top of it in all my skyline photos. By the way, if you've been looking for a crane but can't find one available, it's because they're all in China.

So, we took the subway under the river to Pudong. (The other side of the river.) Here are some stats about GBBO:
Highest Floor we could access: 100
Elevator time to go from the -10th floor to the 95th: 60 seconds
Ears pop? Yes.
Meters above ground on the 100th Floor: 474
World's Highest Observatory? Check
Glass ceiling to stand on on 100th floor? Check
Number of times I got the chills when I stepped on the glass floor: Every time
Total height of the building: 492 meters
Cost for a person to go to the top of the GBBO: 150 RMB, or about $25
View=hazy, but spectacular
Number of really awesome souvenir beer bottle openers in the gift shop: 0.5

After the GBBO, we went to another mall (Shanghai has a ton of malls, and when the temps are above 100 degrees, it turns out that they are really pleasant places to be) for lunch. Elene ordered some great dishes, including a pineapple shrimp dish, a frittata sort of thing, and some good vegetable soup. Yes, soup on a hot day. I don't get it either, but it was yummy.

We left Pudong and traveled by subway again to reach the other side of the river. We walked around this area called Xintiandi where there are many European style buildings and shops. It's an area where you could forget you're in China if you wanted to. It was hot, so we ordered milkshakes, and we ran into two other members of our Fulbright group and their guides. We all hung out a bit, and then it looked like we might get another storm. Caitlin and I had been wanting to get pedicures, so we asked Elene if that might be a fun afternoon activity. She was excited to show us to a nail place near her home, so off we went. I picked a weird sparkly brown color, because things in China are very sparkly.

Elene then announced that we were going to her house for dinner, so we walked around the corner and up to her apartment. Her parents and housekeeper prepared a lovely little dinner for us. Elene's parents don't speak much English, so it was a little odd, but Elene was really excited to show off her apartment to us. Clearly Elene and her family are doing really well in China, and don't represent a typical Chinese family in terms of the size of their apartment, owning a car, and having a housekeeper.

It was a really fun day. Tomorrow is our last full day here in China! I can't believe it, but I'm excited to go to Hong Kong, and I'm also looking forward to going home. It's been a long time away. OK, some photos!